timmans



(No Model.)

L. H. TIMMANS. MARINE WREGK INDIGATING DEVICE.

Patented NOV. 5, 1895.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS H. TIMMANS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO LOUIS B. BERNEI AND MAURICE LAUPHEIMER, OF SAME PLACE.

MARINE-WRECK- lNDICATING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,281, dated November 5, 1895.

Application filed. March 18, 1395. Serial No. 542,244. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LoUIs H. TIMMANS, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Marine-Wreck-Indicating Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to means for indicating or locating Wrecked or sunken-vessels, and has for its object certain improvements in the construction of a buoy, which will be fully disclosed in the following specification and claims.

Under the usual construction of buoys designed to be carried by vessels for the purpose of locating Wrecks the buoy is loosed from its position on the deck of the vessel as soon as the vessel becomes submerged, and as a consequence the buoy is liable to become entangled in the rigging of the vessel or in the floating wreckage and never come to the surface at all, or to be separated from the wreck and float away. To overcome this difficulty it has been proposed to secure a buoy to a suitable base upon the deck or other part of a vessel by a soluble substance but in the practical use of such devices it becomes necessary to cover the buoy with a tarpaulin to prevent the separation of the buoy from its base, and this tarpaulin, in the excitement and confusion attending the foundering of a vessel, is forgotten to be removed, and as a consequence the buoy does not rise. Furthermore, the line or cable by which the buoy has been attached to the wreck has been exposed and subject to being severed by passing vessels. It is my purpose to remedy these defects by the construction hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a sunken vessel with the buoy attached to its deck. Fig. 2 represents the buoy afloat and attached to the wreck. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the buoy on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4:, a like view showing the reel in position at a right angle to that shown in Fig. 3 and the extension enlarged; Fig. 5, an enlarged transverse sectional detail of the buoy and the safe attached thereto, and Fig. 6 an enlarged sectional view of the telescopic casing.

Reference being had to the drawings and the letters thereon, A indicates a vessel and B the buoy, which normally rests in a stand 0, secured to the deck of the vessel in any preferred part of the vessel. The buoy consists of a sealed or air-tight coniform body a, made of boiler-iron, having a rounded bottom I) to ride upon the water and impart a rocking or vibratory motion to the buoy. Within this closed part or body of the buoy is a chamber in which a gong c is supported upon suitable brackets d, attached to the inside of the body a of the buoy, and is provided with an annular upwardly-extending flange or rim 6, and is preferably slightly concavo-convex to cause the loose metal ball f to rest normally in the center of the gong while the buoy is on the deck of the vessel and to roll against the flange 6 when the buoy is riding the waves and billows and produce intoning which can be heard by and will attract attention of passing vessels, or Wreckers searching for the wreck. To the lower end of the body a is attached a cage g, composed of a number of bars h, supporting a bottom 1', and'within the cage is a reel it, supported on two opposite bars h in suitable bearings Z. The reel is secured against revolving and paying out the line or cable by a bar m, secured to one end of the reel by a substance soluble in water, such as glue or cement, as the vessel is being submerged. The length of time that the buoy shall be held submerged is regulated by the extent of surface on the reel and the bar to which the soluble substance is applied.

The line or cable D is secured to the lower end of the inner section 0 of a telescopic casing p, normally contained in an extension g on the buoy by a strand 1", which is of sufficient strength only to hold the cable while the telescopic sections of the casing are being extended, and will be severed by the momentum of the buoy acquired while the sections of the casing are being extended and when the last section. has been drawn out of the extension q, when the cable will continue to pay out until the buoy has reached the surface of the water and the cable on the reel has all been expended. The casing 19 extends down about four fathoms and protects the cable D against being severed by a vessel or other body passing over it. The lower end of the cable is secured to the deck of the vessel in any suitable manner, as by an eyebolt n.

To the body a of the buoy in any suitable or preferred part is attached a safe E to receive any message or description of the circumstances attending the foundering, the location of the vessel at the time of foundering, or other matter that will give information concerning the wreck and assist in finding it. The safe maybe made of any light material that will float, such as wood or sheet metal, and is provided with the name of the vessel to which it belongs on the outside and y a chamber 3 to receive important papers, and may be secured to the buoy byafragile body t of glass, which in deep water will be crushed by the pressure of the water or in shallow water will be broken by waves or floating debris and released from the buoy and be washed ashore. The glass body If is preferably hollow, as shown, and may be secured to the buoy by a flange u and to the safe E by a dovetailed rib '0, which engages a corresponding groove or seat w in the safe, and by a suitable pin y in the wall of the safe above the rib 1.

To the upper end of the body a of the buoy is secured a metallic fiag-stait Ct and a metallic flag b to attract attention of passing vessels.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is i 1. A buoy for indicating marine wrecks having a sealed chamber provided with an intoning device, and a line forsecuring the buoy to the wreck in combination with a telescopic casing surrounding the line.

2. A buoy for indicating marine wrecks having a sealed chamber, a gong within said chamber and a loose ball in the gong in combination with a reel, a line thereon, and a telescopic casing surrounding the line.

3. A buoy for indicating marine wrecks having a sealed chamber provided with a rounded bottom and an intoning device in said chamber in combination with a line for securing thebuoy'and a telescopic casing surroundingthe line.

4. A buoy for indicating marine wrecks provided with a line and a telescopic casing surrounding said line.

5. A buoy having a sealed chamber and a cage attached to the lower end thereof, in combination with a reel and a line supported in said cage and a telescopic casing for the line.

6. A buoy having a sealed chamber and a cage attached to the lower end thereof, in combination with a reel within the cage, a line thereon, and means for locking the reel within said cage.

7. A buoy for indicating marine wrecks,

in combination with a safe dctachabl y secured to the outer surface of the buoy.

8. A buoy for indicating marine wrecks in combination with a safe dctachably secured thereto by a fragile connection.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS II. TIMMANS. \Vitnesses THos. KELL BRADFORD, Louis B. BERNEI. 

